While other MediaPost newsletters and articles remain free to all ... our new Research Intelligencer service is reserved for paid subscribers ...

Subscribe today to gain access to the every Research Intelligencer article we publish as well as the exclusive daily newsletter, full access to The MediaPost Cases, first-look research and daily insights from Joe Mandese, Editor in Chief.

Emerson Collective, the social impact organization run by Laurene Powell Jobs, has acquired Pop-Up Magazine Productions, the publisher of live magazine show Pop-Up Magazine and The
California Sunday Magazine.

Douglas McGray, co-founder and editor in chief, and Chas Edwards, co-founder and president, will continue to run day-to-day
operations of Pop-Up Magazine Productions.

Emerson Collective has been a longtime supporter and investor in Pop-Up Magazine Productions. According to Recode,
Emerson invested at least $10 million in the company last year.

“Both magazines have managed to create unique journalistic platforms that help foster empathy and
better understanding in the world,” stated Powell Jobs, who is the widow of the late Apple Inc. founder, Steve Jobs.

advertisement

advertisement

The acquisition is a good fit, according to
the companies, because of “shared values and ambitions.”

Emerson Collective is heavily involved in the media space. Last year, the firm acquired majority
ownership of The Atlantic, and it invests in several independent and nonprofit journalism enterprises, such as Gimlet Media, Axios, ProPublica and Mother Jones, among
others.

Pop-Up Magazine is known for its un-recorded, live journalism shows. Storytellers are brought on stage from film, print, audio and photography to share tales
with the audience on different topics, from kids learning to box in Thailand to Donald Trump’s favorite salad.

Every year, Pop-Up Magazine goes on tour to
cities around the country with different contributors, themes and audiences.

In 2019, Pop-Up Magazine expects to bring its show to over 40,000 people, a tenfold increase
since 2014.

The California Sunday Magazine -- a feature and photography publication printed bi-monthly -- will produce a
special issue this December where all stories will be told through photography, focusing on the single theme of “Home."

California Sunday will also expand
the issue’s cover story into an exhibition at Aperture Gallery in New York, turning the gallery space into a magazine feature audiences can walk through.

Pop-Up Magazine Productions, in collaboration with Emerson Collective, will accelerate its new “special projects” work to develop new events and custom projects going
forward.

The two companies are currently piloting a new event series called Pop-Up
Zine, a DIY version of Pop-Up Magazinefor journalists and other creatives across the country to produce their own live magazine–style events for their
communities.